If we are earning more than something around $25,000 per year, we are in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world. Double that yearly household income and we are in the top 1%. This means most of us here find ourselves among the elite. In His earthly ministry, Jesus aligned himself with those with the least, “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” How might you and I stand with those who live life on the fringe of life? How might we align ourselves with those with whom Jesus aligned himself even if it might mean being criticized or misunderstood?
What might this day have felt like to you, had you been among the crowd following Jesus has he approached the city of Jericho? You might have been exulting with the others. Jesus had said some spectacular things that day, depending upon how long you had walked with him. You might have seen him single out children as recipients of God’s Kingdom! “Become like a child,” Jesus had said. You might have witnessed his talk with a young, rich guy who wanted eternal life, and claimed to follow all the commands of Scripture, but when it came to his wealth, his most cherished possession, which really possessed him, he couldn’t let it go. “Sell everything, give to the poor and come follow me,” Jesus had told him. And he left, sorrowful. You might have heard the shocked response of the disciples to whom Jesus said, “How difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s Kingdom. Indeed it is more difficult for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter God’s Kingdom.” The disciples were shocked. Salvation was impossible, Jesus had said, for people, but not for God. You might have heard when JEsus said for the third time that he would have to be killed when he reached Jerusalem, and with the disciples you might have decided he was just speaking in figurative terms. But what could that mean?
When Jesus stopped for the blind man in Jericho, told in Luke 18, he demonstrated how He lived “hearing” and “seeing” those whom others missed. Had you seen that guy by the side of the road? Had you even heard his shouts? Some had heard, they yelled right back telling him to be silent, putting him into his place. But had you really seen him or heard him? Or rather had you been surprised along with the others when Jesus stopped and called this man to come to him. This blind beggar was received and healed by Jesus. In fact, he was healed by his own faith, Jesus said. He believed and that made healing possible.
In your own life, today, who are the marginalized? Who are the blind? Who are the beggars who need love and grace? Who are the lost, hurting, lonely, abandoned? Jesus calls you and me to see them and reach out to them. How might you choose to do such ministry with your life?